To
the delight of Hernan Cortes and his Spanish conquistadors, Montezuma II of the
Aztec Empire was an extremely generous gift-giver. He handed over treasures to
the Spaniards nearly every time they interacted, be it delivered by messenger
or bestowed in person. Whenever Montezuma, himself, hosted a meeting with the
Spaniards, multiple golden or gilded objects almost always were handed over to
the conquistadors at one point or another. Yet, sometimes Montezuma II made
the Spaniards work harder than usual for their gilt gifts.
Hernan
Cortes and his conquistadors entered Montezuma’s capital city of Tenochtitlan
in late 1519 and stayed there for the opening months of 1520. During their stay
in the Aztec capital, the Spaniards came to feel increasingly paranoid that
Montezuma’s hospitality would one day cease and that he would have them
arrested and executed. In order to save their skins from this potential danger,
and to apply more leverage against the Aztec Empire, the Spaniards captured Montezuma
and detained him in their Spanish quarters in Tenochtitlan. At first, they held
the Aztec emperor on a short leash, but they eventually loosened their grip,
letting Montezuma hold court and visit temples—all, however, under Spanish
surveillance.
Early
on in his captivity, Montezuma and Cortes were forced to live in the same
compound together, and Montezuma apparently decided to kill time by playing
games with Cortes and the Spaniards. Montezuma’s game of choice was variously
called totoloque or totoloc, and in Montezuma’s typical fashion,
the Aztec leader’s personal equipment set for this game was golden or gilded. It
seemed to have been a gambling game, where the participants made bets and then
each player had a certain number of turns to throw a ball or pellet at a
designated target. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, one of Hernan Cortes’
conquistadors, described the game: “it is played with small round glossy
balls, which here were made of gold, and are pitched at a certain mark, also of
the same metal: five throws finished the game, and the stakes were for valuable
gold trinkets and jewels” (Conquest of New Spain, chapter 97). Even if
the Aztec leader won the game, Montezuma—either because of his generosity (or
his being under arrest)—was said to have always given away his gambling
winnings to the Spaniards. Despite this, Bernal Díaz claimed that Hernan
Cortes’ score-keeper tried to pad Cortes’ stats, and Montezuma eventually
called the man out for cheating.
Written
by C. Keith Hansley
Picture
Attribution: (Sketch of Cortes and Montezuma in the Historia de la Conquista de
Méjico, c. 1851, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz, translated by J. M. Cohen. New York: Penguin Books, 1963.
- https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32474/32474-h/32474-h.htm
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Montezuma-II
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hernan-Cortes
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